The Madagascar Tour: Jungle Fever
by emmydisney17
Summary: 16 Year old Russell had been born with a gift that he had used since he was six; the ability to communicate with animals! His best friends are Alex the lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the hippo who live happily and healty in the Central Park Zoo. However after his tenth birthday Marty asks Russell to sneak him out and their wild Madagascar adventure begins...


**The Madagascar Tour**

**The Life and Gift of Russell Quinn**

Russell Quinn, a little six-year-old boy at the time of his first zoo visit with his class, was a happy regular boy with pale skin, large blue eyes, a messy mop of red hair and a love for animals. He happily hopped towards the entrance of the Central Park Zoo with his class behind him. Today was field trip day and Russell was happy to be visiting the zoo. He passed though the gate and made monkey sounds as he bounced around and said "I love the zoo!"

Russell wore a blue shirt, purple shorts and cream-colored shoes. He had dressed himself for this special day and knew that his parents were thrilled for them that he was going to the zoo for the first time in his life since they couldn't afford to go to the zoo before.

"Now Remember class," said Russell's Preschool teacher Ms. Shino "Stay with your field trip buddy and if you get lost just talk to the zoo keepers and they'll take you to me. Everybody got that?"

"Yeah!" the kids cried happily

"Now let's have some fun!" their teacher said.

The kids ran off to take a look at some animals in pairs of twos. Russell ran towards the chimpanzee cage with his classmate Pia and she watched as Russell tried to climb on the cage "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to get a closer shot." Russell said as he held his camera in his arms. He aimed his camera at the monkeys but before he could take a picture he heard a voice say "By Jove, who does he think he is?"

Confused Russell turned to face Pia and said "Uh, did you say something?"

"No." Pia said

He turned to the two monkeys just as one of them hit the other with a newspaper and said "Come on Phil, wake up you filthy monkey!"

Russell's eyes lit up and he gasped as he smiled. The monkeys were actually talking! He happily giggled and he shouted "Hi Phil! Hi Phil's friend!"

The monkeys were so surprised about hearing Phil's came coming out of a human (Which had never happened before unless they were zoo keepers) they screeched and climbed up their tree in surprise. Russell hopped down from the bars of the cage and he hopped around and he said "Did you hear that? Those monkeys can talk! And one of them is named Phil!"

"Talk?" Pia asked "You mean like this?" she made monkey sounds but Russell stopped him "No no, i heard one of them say 'Phil, wake up you filthy monkey' loud and clear!"

Pia stared at her buddy and frowned. Russell was too excited to notice and he hopped around happily before he ran towards the zoo's main attraction: Alex the Lion cub. The cub had been washed up from the sea and rescued before he was brought to the zoo to live there and everybody loved him because he could dance like a master, doing dancing feats nobody could imitate no matter how hard they try.

Russell tried to get to Alex as he danced for the crowd but the other people pushed him away. Russell was upset but then he noticed another animal near by, a zebra, a giraffe and a hippo. They were watching the lion cub and Russell climbed up behind them as the zebra said "I don't care what they say, i say he's a big show-off."

"A little green with invy are we?"

"AGH!" The animals yelped when they saw Russell and they were stunned before the hippo asked "Wait... did you... talk to us?"

"Yes, i did." Russell said with a wider smile "I can talk to animals!"

"RUSSELL!"

Russell was pulled upwards by his mother, a zoo keeper named Sofia, picked him up and said "Honey, what are you doing here? Don't you know it's dangerous to just climb into animal exhibits?"

"But Mommy," Russell said as she carried the boy out of the exhibit "I heard the animals talking!"

"What?"

"I heard the animals talk like you and me!"

Sofia was stunned as she climbed out of the exhibit but then she smiled and hugged her son and said "Oh sweetie! I knew it would only be a matter of time before it happened!"

"Huh?" Russell asked.

They sat down on a bench and Sofia told her son "Remember that... unusual birthmark you've got on the back of your neck?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, that birthmark is special." Sofia told her son "It's the special symbol of our family for the last eight generations. It means that those born with the mark can talk to any animal on the planet. I know." She lifted a part of her hair and turned her neck to the side and showed her son the same identical birthmark on her neck "I can talk to animals to."

"You can?" Russell asked

"How else do you think me and your dad make money?" Sofia said "Since he works in an animal clinic he needs help on figuring out precisely what is wrong or to tell the animals what they're suppose to do. And I work here at the zoo so I can care for the animals and talk to them about what they need and stuff like that. Of course i started talking to the animals when I was five. Not that I'm bragging to anyone or anything."

Russell smiled. This was the happiest day of his life; he had just figured out that his family secret was that they can talk to animals! But he also figured out that his father couldn't understand animals because he wasn't born with the mark. But despite that he was grateful of his wife's special powers and now he had his son to help him out.

And he didn't know it but his new best friends, made of Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo would take him on a wild adventure he would never belive he could have.


End file.
